Hand-tool.



w. A. BERNARD.-

HAND TOOL- APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13, I915.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

a l/ E/VTOR."

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WIL IAM A. BERNARD, on EW HAVEN, CONN CTIC T, ,AssieNoR imawamfaSCHOLLHORN COMPANY, or NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION or CoN-NECTICUT.

HAND-Toot.

T 0 allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM A. BERNARD, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of New Haven and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand-Tools, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description,

This invention relates to hand tools, and it has special reference totools of the plier or lever handle type, such as shown, for example, inPatent No. 17 9,113, granted to me on July 19, 1892, or my ReissuePatent No. 13,657, datedDecember 16, 1913, although certain features ofmy present invention are applicable to tools of other types.

One of the primary objects of the mven tion is to provide improved meansfor adjusting the jaws of a cutter, or like devlce, relatively to eachother, so that as the cutting edges are worn down and re-sharpened, theycan be maintained in proper relation to each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a compound tool having aplurality of pairs of movable jaws, and a single operating meanstherefor, in combination with maproved means whereby the tool may be .soadjusted that both, or all, of said pairs of jaws will close togethercompletely at'the same time, even though one ormore of said pairs ofjaws are considerably worn or ground down;

Another objectof the invention is to provide improved means foradjusting the throw or movement of a pivotally' mounted jaw, actuated bylever handles, or the like.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel featuresand combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed; 7

In-the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side'elevation of a pair ofpliers embodying my improvements, with the jaws open; Fig; 2 is,fragmentary elevation, show ing the jaws closed, and with certain partsbroken away, illustrating one adjustment of the pivoted adjustable jaw;Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showingthe adjustable jaw in anotherposition after it has been worn away and re-sharpened; and Fig. 1 is anenlarged detail section on line L-f of Fig; 1.

In the drawing, I have shown my improvements applied to pliers of thekind Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented Ndv. 28,1916.

Serial Nb. 1,987. I

illustrated in Patent No. 179,113 mentioned above, and I shall proceedto describe the details of construction in that particular connection,but it will be understood that in many phases of the invention thegeneral type of the tool may be considerably varied.

Referring to the drawing, the tool comprises jaws 5, 6' adapted to beoperated by pivoted levers or handles 7, 8. The jaws 5, 6, which may becalled the main jaws, are of the so-called parallel type. The handles 7,8 are forkedattheir forward portions, as usual, and these forkedportions are crossed and pivoted together by means of separate pivotst),10 at opposite sides of the tool. i

In other words, the side portion or tine of one fork is pivoted to theadjacent side portion or tine of the other handle by a separate pivotatone side of the tool. and sub? stantially the samearrangement isadopted at the opposite side. The jaws ,5, 6 have the usual form ofplier jaws. .The jaw 5 is pivoted by a pin'or bolt 11 to the forwardextremity of the fork of the handle 8, and

the jaw 6 is similarly pivoted by means of a J pin or bolt 12 to theforward extremity of the fork of the handle 7. The jaws 5, 6 are slottedat their rear portions, as shown b the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and theslots engage the pins 13, limounted in the handles in the usual manner.This is a well-known method of mounting the jaws for parallel movement,to which I. make no claim.

The jaw 5 is provided at its outer part, i. 0., at the side opposite itsinner working surface, with an enlargment 15, which forms in effect anauxiliary, j aw, Cooperating with this auxiliary -j aw 15 is a pivotedauxiliary or. subsidiary jaw 16. In the form shown, thesub'sidiary jaws15, 16 form a socalled side cutter, for which purpose they are providedwith beveledcotiperating cutting edges 17, 18 respectively. The jaw 16is provided with a perforation 19, engaging the pivot bolt 11, wherebysaid jaw is pivoted .to'the forward extremity of the handle 8; The jaw16 is likewise pivoted on the axis of the screw 10 so that as the mainjaws 5, 6 are closed togetherby the handle levers, the subsidiary jaws:15, 16 will approach each other at the same time. Similarly, when thejaws 5, 6 are separatedby the actuation of the lever handles 7, 8, thesubsidiary jaws 15,16 will likewise be separated.

The pivoted. subsidiary jaw 16 is adjustable relatively to itscooperating jaw 15, and relatively to the main jaws 5, 6. To this end,the jaw 16 is adjustable with respect to one of its pivotal points ofsupport, and in the embodiment illustrated, it can be adjusted to acertain extent relatively to the pivot screw 10, which forms a commonpivot for the lever handles. For this purpose, the screw 10 has abearing in the jaw 16, which is adjustable transversely with respect tosaid jaw. In the example shown, the jaw 16 is provided with a transverseslot 20 engaged by a nut 21, into which the pivot 10 is screwed. The jaw16 can be moved transversely relatively to the nut 21 by means of anadjusting member, such as a small screw 22, which is readily accessiblewhen the tool is in the closed position shown in Fig. 2. The screw 22has a threaded shank engaging a threaded opening in the jaw 16. The inner end of the screw is adapted to engage one side of the nut 21, andthe head of the screw is preferably provided with a nick for a screwdriver, so that when the adjustment of the tool is necessary, the screw22 may be readily turned in the proper direction. The nut 21 ispreferably held in the slot 20 by beveling the side walls ofthe slot andthe side walls of the nut, as shown in Fig. l. The arrangement is suchthat as the screw 10 is screwed into the nut 21, it will pull the nutfirmly into the guide slot and hold it securely therein.

It is obvious that when a tool of this character'leaves the factory,both pairs of jaws should close together perfectly. In other words, whenthe plier jaws 5, 6 are in light contact the cutting edges 17, 18 of theauxiliary or subsidiary jaws ought to be in light contact. Supposingthat the cutting edges 17, 18 are worn away by constant use and and arere-sharpened along the dotted lines in Fig. 2, it will be obvious thatthe proper adjustment of the two pairs of jaws relatively to each otheris no longer maintained. I can provide this adj ustment,however,by theconstruction described, wherein it is merely necessary to turn the screw22 in such a direction as to move the jaw 16 toward the jaw 15. The nut21 is of course held absolutely stationary by means of the pivot member10, and, consequently, when the screw 21 is turned in one direction, thethreaded part of the jaw16, engaging the adjusting screw, acts in thenature of a nut and travels upward: on said screw from the positionshown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 3, to compensate for thewear of the subsidiary jaws. Thus the adjusting means for the jaw 16permits the subsidiary aws to be brought fully together, even after theyhavebecome considerably worn. On the other hand, if the subsidiary jawsmeet each other before the main jaws are closed, the screw 22 is turnedin "the opposite direction so as to permit the subsidiary jaws to moveaway from each other to a certain extent. The subsidiary jaws areobviously set so that they will meet each other at exactly the same timethat the main jaws contact with each other, and this is a feature ofconsiderable importance in a tool of this type.

In assembling the tool, the'nut 21 is screwed down as far as possible inthe guide 20, by means of the screw 22, as shown in Fig. 3, so as toclamp the nut tightly in place during the operation of assembling Thus,the nut 21 forms, for all practical purposes, an integral part of thejaw 16 and will not fall out of the same. The jaw 16 and its adjustingmechanism, are placed in the tool as a unit in the proper relation tothe other parts, the screw 11 is passed through the opening 19, and thescrew 10 is screwed into the nut 21. The adjusting screw 22 is thenturned in such a direction, and into such a position, that the two pairsof jaws will meet each other at the same time, as indicated in Fig.2. Inthis position, the nut 21 is substantially at the upper end of the slot20, so as to provide for considerable adjustment to compensate for wear.Thus it will be understood that with my adjusting mechanism, the jawscan be accurately adjusted in the factory without complicating to anyextent the process of manufacture, and that afterward when the tool isworn, or needs adjustment for some other reason, such adjustment can bereadily effected to provide the desired co-ordination between the diflerent sets of jaws.

Of course, it is not always necessary to use the adjusting mechanism forclosing all of the various jaws at the same time, because in some casesit might be desired to close one pair of jaws before the jaws of anotherpair came into full contact with each other.

Ihave only shown and described one eme bodiment of my invention, but itwill be understood that the invention is susceptible of numerous otherembodiments within the scope of the claims.

I do not claim broadly asmy invention a hand tool having a pair ofparallel jaws, a pivoted subsidiary jaw, a pair of lever handles foroperating all of said jaws, and mechanism for adjusting the subsidiaryjaw relatively to the other jaws, asclaimed in the application ofCharles W. Blodgie, Serial No.1,794, filed January 12, 1915.

' WhatI claim is:

1. In a hand tool, a pair of parallel jaws, a pair of lever handles, adevice for pivoting said lever handles together, devices for pivotingthe respective jaws to the respective extremities of said lever handles,a subsidiary jaw pivoted coincidently with the pivot of one of saidparallel jaws, and also pivoted on said first-named pivoting device, andscrew operated adjusting means for positively moving said subsidiary jawrelatively to said first-named pivoting device; substantially asdescribed.

2. In a hand tool, the combination of a pair of parallel jaws, a pair ofcrossed lever handles, a pivot member for pivoting said lever handlestogether at the point where they intersect, means for pivoting theforward ends of the lever handles to said parallel jaws, means guidingsaid jaws for parallel movement, a subsidiary jaw pivoted coincidentlywith one of said parallel jaws and carrying a relatively movable memberengaging said first-named pivoting member to pivot said subsidiary jawthereto, and a screw for positively adjusting said subsidiary jaw withrespect to said relatively movable member so as to shift said subsidiaryjaw relatively to said, first-named pivot member; substantially asdescribed.

3. In a hand tool, a pair of parallel jaws, a pivoted subsidiary jaw, apair of lever handles for operating all of said jaws, and screwmechanism for adjusting the pivoted subsidiary jaw relatively to theparallel jaws; substantially as described.

4. In a hand tool, the combination of a pair of parallel jaws, a pair ofcrossed lever handles, a pivot screw. for pivoting said lever handlestogether at the point where they intersect, means for pivoting theforward ends of the lever handles to said parallel jaws, a subsidiaryjaw pivoted coincidently with one of said parallel jaws and having aslot therein, a member having a threaded engagement with said pivotscrew and held in said slot thereby, and a screw for adjusting saidsubsidiary jaw relatively to said lastnamed member and said pivot screw;substantially as described.

5. In a hand tool, the combination of a pair of parallel jaws, a pair ofcrossed lever handles, a screw for pivoting said lever handles togetherat the point where they intersect, means for pivoting the forward endsof said lever handles to said parallel jaws, a subsidiary jaw pivotedcoincidently with one of said parallel jaws and having a slot, said slotundercut at the side opposite the head of said pivot screw, a nutfitting said slot and having threaded engagement with said pivot screw,whereby the pivot screw holds said nut in position in said slot, andmeans for adjusting said subsidiary jaw relativelyto said nut;substantially asdescribed.

6. In a hand tool a an of main aws a 7 pair of lever handles, meansofconnectlon between said lever handles and said jaws for giving thelatter a parallel movement, a pivot interconnecting said lever handles,a subsidiary jaw pivoted to one of said parallel jaws and likewisepivoted on the last named pivot, and a device accessible at the edge ofsaid subsidiary jaw for adjusting the same relatively to said last namedpivot; substantially as described.

7. In a hand tool, a jaw having a slot with beveled side edges, anut'fitting said slot and movable lengthwise thereof, a pivot member forsaid jaw screwed into said nut and holding the same in said slot, asecond jaw 00- operating with the first, and means for operating saidjaws; substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 12th day ofJanuary, 1915.

WILLIAM A. BERNARD. lVitnesses:

HENRY E. ROCKWELL, M. OLIVE WILLIAMS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O,

